TANZANIA's women's cricket squad had a promising start to its campaign in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier Division 1 2025, notching a slim one-run defeat of Uganda in a nail-biting clash at the HP Oval in Windhoek, Namibia, on Sunday.

A solid batting by the duel's eventual winners had them ending with a competitive total, but they should be credited for zealously defending their total, silencing a determined Uganda batting unit. 

Tanzania were put in to bat first by Uganda, who had won the toss and elected to bowl, and the former secured a competitive 121/7 in 20 overs. 

Except for Hudaa Mrisho, who had a brief spell having been dismissed with two runs, the rest of the top five batters managed to prove their worth at the crease and played a crucial role in having the team amass the convincing score. 

Opener Saum Mtae (pictured) had a great day for the batting squad, notching 39 runs at a strike rate of 97.50 and was ultimately the batter with the most runs. 

The ruthless Saum had Tanzania reaching 84-3 once she was dismissed in the 13th over, with her contribution comprising four fours and a six. 

Nasra Hamza, brought back to the senior national women's team after several years of absence from the side, proved her batting competence with a notable effort, having posted 20 runs. 

There were, moreover, equally encouraging contributions by seasoned cricketer Fatuma

Omary scored 12 runs, and the other opener, Neema Justine, whose 18 runs at a strike rate of 62.07. 

Team skipper Shufaa Hamza, the wicketkeeper-cum-batter, also had a two-digit contribution for the batting squad, making her way back with 10 runs. 

Uganda's 19 extras looked to have somehow boosted Tanzania's search for a better score. 

Irene Mutonyi, Consy Aweko, Janet Mbabazi, and Stephanie Nampiina ended their bowling quotas with a wicket each, earnestly seeking to limit Tanzania's figure to a manageable total. 

In reply, Uganda women's cricketers, led by captain Janet, put up a zealous chase of the 122 runs but fell short with a mere two runs needed. 

They managed to shrug off a brief stay at the crease by opener Janet, given that the fellow top five batters put up good knocks to somewhat bring stability in the batting time. 

The fellow opener, Esther Iloku, had a great outing, much as she ended up on the losing team, given she posted 49 runs. 

Rita Musamali and Immaculate Nakisuuyi had Uganda piling up more runs and boosting their hopes of getting down to a successful chase, with Rita garnering 27 runs not out and Immaculate notching 22 runs. 

Tanzania's bowling unit, though, struck thereafter, grabbing the wickets of Uganda's Stephanie and Proscovia Alako, who were run out and, thus, dashing away hopes of having a successful chase. 

Sophia Frank ended up as the most enterprising cricketer when Tanzania fielded, notching impressive figures, 2-8, which ultimately had her posting a 4.00 economy rate. 

She was responsible for Tanzania's successful efforts to repel the chase done by Uganda, grabbing crucial wickets of Esther and Immaculate. 

Tanzania, who were yesterday coming up against the other East African side, Kenya, were thus coming second in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier Division 1 2025's Group B, which was led by Rwanda, who boasted a better Net Run Rate after the opening day on Sunday. 

The 2025 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier is a cricket tournament that forms part of the qualification process for the 2026 Women's T20 World Cup. 

The first stage of the tournament was Division Two, played in Botswana in July 2025, during which eight teams competed. 

Rwanda and Sierra Leone reached the final of Division Two and therefore progressed to Division One. 

Rwanda defeated Sierra Leone by 51 runs in the final.

 The Africa qualifier's Division One, now taking place in Namibia, will see the top two sides make it to the Global Qualifier.